I'm neither a bank president nor a professional athlete. But with my recent weekly test drive, the 2007 Escalade AWD, it was easy to understand the car's increasing popularity. It's the most luxurious, the biggest and perhaps the most disgustingly glorious of all premium sport utility vehicles.
The Escalade AWD features a 6.2-liter, V8, 403-horsepower engine with a six-speed automatic transmission. There's nothing the car does without overwhelming power. Cadillac, in fact, promotes the vehicle as the "World's Most Powerful 7-Passenger Full-Size Sport Utility Vehicle."
Its power is also combined with superior room for passengers and cargo, a good degree of luxury and a good, quiet ride considering its immense proportions.
The Escalade performs as one might expect. Its power doesn't always transform into other areas. The ride is quiet but not particularly smooth. The interior design, however, overshadows the vehicle's lack of smoothness. The Escalade is spacious and handsome. The leather interior color is perfectly complemented by the controls, console, instrumentation and others features like the carpet and armrest cushions.
The Escalade's features list is long and varied. It includes, among others items: 18-inch aluminum wheels (extra charge), 14-way power front seats, Bose surround sound, power windows, doors and locks, steering wheel radio controls, XM satellite radio, AM/FM stereo with 6-CD changer and DVD/MP3 features.
Premium SUVs will never be known for even marginal fuel efficiency, and that presents the Escalade's primary downside. Its estimates of 13 mph in city driving and 19 mph on the highway are difficult numbers to accept during high-cost gas times and for anyone environmentally concerned.
2007 Cadillac Escalade Facts & Figures: Safety — Dual front, side and side curtain airbags; Fuel Mileage (estimates) — 13 mpg (city), 19 mpg (highway); Warranty — Bumper to bumper, 4 years/50,000 miles; Corrosion, 6 years/unlimited miles; Roadside (24-hour) assistance program, 4 years/50,000 miles; Base Price — $56,405.
